7 CFR 1901.205 - Nondiscrimination in construction financed with FmHA or its successor agency under Public Law 103-354 loan or grant.

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§ 1901.205 Nondiscrimination in construction financed with FmHA or its successor agency under Public Law 103-354 loan or grant.

Executive Order 11246 provides for equal employment opportunity without regard to race, color, religion, sex, or national origin and the elimination of all facilities segregated on the basis of race, color, religion, or national origin on construction work financed by FmHA or its successor agency under Public Law 103-354 involving a construction contract of more than $10,000.

(a)Compliance. This section applies to Federal or federally assisted construction contracts or subcontracts in excess of $10,000 for on-site construction. It also applies to invitations for bids published for such construction. If construction work of over $10,000 is partially financed by another Federal Agency, the County Supervisor will try to reach an agreement as to which agency will administer the nondiscrimination requirements. If unable to reach an agreement, the County Supervisor will refer the case to the State Director.

(b)Requirements of applicants, contractors, or subcontractors and responsible FmHA or its successor agency under Public Law 103-354 officials -

(1)Applicant. The applicant will be required to execute Form FmHA or its successor agency under Public Law 103-354 400-1, “Equal Opportunity Agreement,” at the time the loan is closed or before construction is started, whichever occurs first. If the applicant is an incorporated association, a resolution of the governing body will authorize execution of the form. Municipalities or other public bodies will have to incorporate references to this form in the loan resolution before it is adopted. If the applicant wants to publish for bids, the applicant must obtain Form FmHA or its successor agency under Public Law 103-354 1924-5, “Invitation for Bid (Construction Contract)” which is in compliance with Executive Order 11246, from the local FmHA or its successor agency under Public Law 103-354 County Supervisor.

(2)Contractor or Subcontractor.

(i) The prospective contractor or subcontractor must submit Form FmHA or its successor agency under Public Law 103-354 400-6, “Compliance Statement,” to the County Supervisor before contract bid negotiations, and comply with the requirements of Executive Order 11246, which are included with Form FmHA or its successor agency under Public Law 103-354 1924-6, “Construction Contract,” during the performance of the contract. The contract will contain the required “Standard Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Construction Contract Specifications” goals and timetables as set forth in exhibit D.

(ii) The contractor or subcontractor will prepare and submit Form Contract Compliance (CC) 257, “Monthly Employment Utilization Report” to the appropriate regional office of the U.S. Department of Labor (USDL) (see exhibit E, “List of Regional Offices”) by the fifth of each month through completion of the contract.

(3)The County Supervisor or the responsible FmHA or its successor agency under Public Law 103-354 official will: (i) Deliver to the contractor the following forms, as appropriate:

(A) Form FmHA or its successor agency under Public Law 103-354 400-3, “Notice to Contractors and Applicants,” with an attached Equal Employment Opportunity Poster. Posters in Spanish will be provided when appropriate,

(B) Form FmHA or its successor agency under Public Law 103-354 400-6, and

(C) Form CC 257.

(ii) Deliver to the applicant Form FmHA or its successor agency under Public Law 103-354 1924-5 when contractors are to be invited to submit bids, and Form FmHA or its successor agency under Public Law 103-354 1924-6 to contract for construction.

(iii) Explain to applicant and contractor the requirements of Executive Order 11246, when needed. However, inquiries concerning compliance must be addressed to the appropriate regional office of USDL (see exhibit E).

(iv) Submit a report similar in form and content to exhibit C (“FmHA or its successor agency under Public Law 103-354 Financed Contract”) of this Instruction to the appropriate regional office of USDL (Exhibit E) within 10 calendar days of the date a contract or subcontract in excess of $10,000 is awarded.

(c)Contractors with 100 or more employees and contract over $10,000. Contractors with 100 or more employees and contract over $10,000, will file the following with the Joint Reporting Committee, 1800 G Street NW., Washington, DC 20006:

(1) SF-100 “Employer Information Report EEO-1,” within 30 days of contract award unless the report has been submitted within the past 12 months, and

(2) An annual report by March 31, so long as the contractor holds any FmHA or its successor agency under Public Law 103-354 financed contract in excess of $10,000.

(d)Contractor with at least 50 employees and contract of $50,000 or more. Each contractor or subcontractor with at least 50 employees and contract of $50,000 or more, must develop a written affirmative action compliance program for each project. This must be on file in each contractor's or subcontractor's personnel file within 120 days after the beginning of the contract. Form AD-425 provides guidelines for developing compliance programs.

(e)Compliance during construction. The County Supervisor will:

(1) Check to see that:

(i) Required posters are displayed.

(ii) There is no evidence of discrimination in employment.

(2) Record findings on Form FmHA or its successor agency under Public Law 103-354 1924-12, “Inspection Report.”

(3) If there is any evidence of noncompliance, the County Supervisor will report all the facts to the appropriate office of USDL (see exhibit E).

(f)Hometown Plans. All construction contracts and subcontracts in excess of $10,000, financed by FmHA or its successor agency under Public Law 103-354, in areas which have Hometown Plans regarding affirmative action and equal employment, are subject to the conditions set forth in the applicable plan. Each State Director should seek the advice of the OGC as to compliance with any such plans in the State Director's jurisdiction.

(g)Discrimination complaints.

(1) Complaints alleging discriminatory acts may be filed directly with the appropriate regional office of USDL (see exhibit E) or with the County Supervisor or the State Director for subsequent forwarding to the above address, by any employee or applicant for employment with a contractor or subcontractor.

(2) Each complaint must be in writing and signed by the complainant (The FmHA or its successor agency under Public Law 103-354 official receiving the complaint will assist complainant when necessary). The complaint will include:

(i) Name, address, and telephone number of complainant.

(ii) Name and address of the person allegedly discriminating.

(iii) Date and place of the discrimination.

(iv) Description of the discrimination.

(v) Any other information that will assist in investigating and resolving the complaint.

(3) Complaints must be filed not later than 180 days after the alleged act unless the State Director extends the time, for good cause shown by the complainant.

This document corrects technical errors in the direct final rule that appeared in the Federal Register on February 24, 2015, entitled “Rural Development Regulations—Update to FmHA References and to Census Regulations.”

This Interim Final Rule is effective March 25, 2015. Written comments on this Interim Final Rule must be received on or before May 26, 2015.

7 CFR Parts 1901 and 1942

Summary

This Interim Final Rule is needed to ensure that the Agency will have a regulation in place to meet the Congressional mandate established in Congress in the Agricultural Act of 2014 (2014 Farm Bill). This mandate requires the Agency to establish a new program called the Rural Business Development Grant Program which combines the former Rural Business Enterprise Grant and Rural Business Opportunity Grant programs. The Agency has made no substantive changes to either the Rural Business Enterprise Grant or Rural Business Opportunity Grant programs when combining these regulations into the Rural Business Development Grant program. Rural Development, Rural Business-Cooperative Service (RBS) is establishing a new regulation for the Rural Business Development Grant (RBDG) program. The program was established by the 2014 Farm Bill. The RBDG Program will combine the Rural Business Enterprise Grant (RBEG) and the Rural Business Opportunity Grant (RBOG) programs. There are no substantive programmatic changes to RBEG and RBOG with this consolidation.

This rule will become effective April 27, 2015 without further action unless the Agency receives significant written adverse comments or written notices of intent to submit adverse comments on or before March 26, 2015. If the Agency receives significant adverse comments or notices, the Agency will publish a timely notice in the Federal Register withdrawing those provisions on which adverse comment were received.

Rural Development (RD) is amending its regulations by updating references to the Farmers Home Administration (FmHA) and clarifying and updating references to the census data. These actions will provide consistency in terminology between program regulations. In addition, clarifying and updating references to census data is needed to account for changes to the decennial Census, which, starting with the 2010 decennial Census is no longer reporting income and unemployment data. Additional revisions are being implemented to show the regulations that do not apply to the Farm Service Agency (FSA) and to remove outdated or unnecessary language.